


Make It Okay

by tomorrowsnews



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 19:50:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2282445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomorrowsnews/pseuds/tomorrowsnews
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Romeo comes from an abusive home. Specs finds out. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make It Okay

**Author's Note:**

> Ft. nolightss's Deaf Specs headcanon

Romeo stood in front of the mirror, absentmindedly tracing the ugly, nasty bruise that had formed on his chest. He winced, but he needed to feel it. Needed the pain to remind him this was real. He put his shirt back on, very gingerly, realizing he had been standing there for a while.

Specs was already lying on his bed, face perpetually buried in a book. It wasn’t until he crawled into bed beside him that he noticed Romeo had even come out of the bathroom. He set the book on the night stand, knowing he was done reading for the night as long as his boyfriend was beside him. He snuggled up right behind Romeo and slid a hand up his shirt, fingers dancing up and down the smaller boy’s torso. Romeo froze for a split second, wondering if Specs would find out about his bruises and scars with just his hand. The scars he could justify, but if he knew about the bruises…

Romeo was shaken out of his thoughts when he realized that Specs had stopped rubbing his chest. He didn’t have to look to know he was concerned. He stroked Specs hand with his thumb, locking fingers to reassure him that he was okay. Romeo felt Specs kiss the back of his neck, and he melted into Specs’ embrace. It didn’t last long, however; Specs’ hand returned to his chest. Romeo could practically feel the smile that ghosted Specs’ lips when his thumb traced over a scar. At least he had no idea what it was from. Specs’ hand made its way to the bruise on Romeo’s chest. It took every bit of willpower he had not to yell. He turned over and buried his face in Specs’ chest. Specs could tell something was wrong, but he didn’t think Romeo was up for discussing tonight. He simply rubbed Romeo’s back in reassurance, tracing hearts until his boyfriend fell asleep.

The next morning, Romeo had cooked breakfast for the two of them. Or tried, anyway. His idea of breakfast was some very sad looking pancakes drowned in syrup. Specs knew something was up, considering the only other time Romeo had “cooked” for him was on his birthday, and that was just cereal. Specs didn’t touch his food until Romeo sat down.  _What’s wrong?_  Specs signed, visibly worried. Romeo took a long time to respond, way longer than he usually did. He simply lifted his shirt, showing the bruise to Specs. Thankfully, he had managed to cover much of it up that morning, so it didn’t look nearly as bad. Specs raised an eyebrow, clearly unsure what caused it.  _I got hit in P.E. yesterday, that’s all. It just hurt bad last night,_  Romeo finally signed back. Specs noticed that his signing looked rushed and rehearsed, far different from the almost flowing nature it usually had. (Romeo had learned ASL surprisingly fast; even Specs was surprised how quickly his boyfriend had picked it up.) He decided not to pursue that train of thought, though. Surely Romeo had no reason to lie. He was probably just tired and anxious. Specs could tell Romeo was acting weird, so Romeo probably knew that Specs had picked that up.

They spent the next few hours cuddling on the couch. Specs was reading and Romeo was watching Saturday morning cartoons, though his attention was on Specs and the way his eyes moved as he absorbed the contents of his novel, blissfully unaware of the world around. Romeo didn’t even realize he had been staring until Specs’ hand appeared on his arm. He thought something was wrong. Romeo smiled reassuringly and stretched out, laying his head on Specs’ lap. He nodded off while his boyfriend absentmindedly played with his hair.

Romeo jolted awake a couple hours later. He checked his phone, looking at the time. It was past one. Specs must have fallen asleep at some point, as he was snoring, head cocked back at what had to be an uncomfortable angle. Romeo got off the couch carefully, making sure Specs stayed asleep. He scribbled a note for Specs “ _Gotta go watch my siblings. I’ll text you later. -R”_  and left it on his lap. He started to walk away, but he backtracked and kissed Specs on the forehead. He booked it out of there, running the entire way home.

Specs wasn’t that concerned when Romeo didn’t end up texting him later that night. He knew how much of a handful his siblings could be. Usually Romeo at least managed to send a belated “Hey,” but Specs wasn’t going to hold it against him. He was, however, very concerned when Romeo still hadn’t texted him back by Sunday night. He had sent him various texts throughout the day, all without a response. And he knew Romeo saw them, because he had never turned read receipts off. He once said, half-jokingly, that he wanted people to know when he was ignoring them. That was all Specs could think about every time he saw that his texts had been read. Finally, close to midnight, after Specs had given up and give to bed, Romeo sent him a text back, simply saying,  _“Sorry, my phone was dead all day. Please don’t be mad at me. I love you.”_

When Specs woke up to that text, he was hurt, but that immediately gave way to worry. Romeo lied, and poorly, but why? Not to mention that he never said “I love you” over text. He said it was totally unromantic. He much preferred to sign it, or even better, trace it into Specs’ back when they held each other. He hurried out of the house that morning, wanting to get to Romeo before classes started. He had no luck, however, because Romeo shuffled into class seconds before the late bell rang. He looked like hell. He had a black eye and a split lip, his usually just-shy-of-perfect hair was a mess, as if he had just woken up, and he was wearing a hoodie even though it was far too warm for that, both outside and within the school. Specs looked at him, every possible scenario running through his head, but Romeo didn’t make eye contact with anyone. It looked like he was purposely avoiding it with his friends, especially Specs. He didn’t even take his usual seat beside Specs; instead, he opted for the back corner, where he immediately put his head down. Specs immediately pulled his phone out and began texting their friends, though it seemed some of them had seen Romeo before he came to class and were already asking the same questions: “Have you seen Romeo?” “What happened to him?” “Do you think it was the Delanceys?” 

Romeo remained just as elusive and unresponsive the rest of the day. He didn’t show up to lunch and it appeared he was skipping the rest of his classes as well. Everyone assumed he had gone home, but Specs knew Romeo wouldn’t have left without telling someone. The only place Specs could even think of that Romeo might be was the stage, so he snuck in during his study hall. Honestly, he wasn’t that hard to find. He had left the light on in the orchestra pit, where he was sleeping. Specs climbed down and gave him a light nudge, not wanting to disturb him but also not wanting him to continue like this. Romeo jumped back, nearly cracking his head off of a music stand. He looked vaguely like a startled animal. Specs scooted closer and held him, and only then did the younger boy relax.

Once Romeo’s heartbeat had returned to a regular rhythm, Specs pulled away and took a good look at him. His black eye looked nasty, as did his split lip. Specs noticed Romeo had taken his hoodie off, and he could see why he had been wearing it: he noticed a dark bruise peeking its way above his shirt collar, and he had a faint set of finger-shaped bruises on his right arm, on the bicep, as if someone had grabbed him forcefully. Neither of them moved for a couple of minutes. Romeo knew exactly what Specs was doing. Specs was trying to figure out what to say next. After what felt like forever, he merely signed,  _Who did this to you?_ Romeo shook his head and began crying. Specs wrapped his arms around him and held him there, firm but careful. Romeo gripped at Specs’ shirt and sobbed, chest heaving up and down in Specs’ arms. Specs rubbed his back, far more gentle than he had ever been before. He immediately decided that finding out what happened could wait, as it was for more important to make sure Romeo was okay now. 

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing abused Romeo not in the universe where he gets out of there, so it was a little different. Borrowed nolightss's Deaf Specs verse as well, because why not?


End file.
